Community Sound-Off: The Future of Online Dynasty

[JBHuskers]

One of the biggest features to ever hit the NCAA Football franchise is Online Dynasty. It has brought the community together in a whole new way, and it will be in it's fourth iteration with NCAA Football 12 next summer. The ability to fight with your friends for recruits, be able to spoil your friends championship run, and see who has the best horse in the Heisman race are just a few of the things that makes Online Dynasty so great. Now that EA has had some time to tinker and expand the Online Dynasty since its inception, what would you, as the community like to see from this point forward? Please post your thoughts and comments below.

[Kwizzy]

Generally, I would like to see a focus on the things that make an online dynasty difficult to rapidly advance and maintain. Things like multiple weeks of offseason recruiting being condensed somehow, etc... Eliminating "bottle-necks" such as this should be a focus IMO.

I would also like to see the dynasty wire feature expanded upon & integrated more with the console aspects of the dynasty. Most notably things like: ability to set depth charts, correct stats displayed, recruit info, etc...

As far as features go, I would like to see some of the same things I would like to see in offline dynasty mode: Gameplanning, Offseason Training Control, Coaching Carousel with coordinators, Scheduling enhancements, Ability to set minimums for each roster position.

[psuexv]

I think Kwizzy's first 2 points go hand in hand. I think with sustaining a long standing dynasty you need to keep interest in the participants. Improving dynasty wire with expanded features and I think historical depth should keep that momentum. The ability to see who the Heisman winner 5 years ago and still brag about that or compare who's had the most All Americans or Conference Championships.

Also better video/highlight capturing.

[gschwendt]

Probably my biggest request (and likely a relatively easy one) would be on DynastyWire, the ability to easily see who remains in the given week both in terms of games and also in recruiting time remaining. As well, on DW, a better way to browse ODs that you're not in to be able to see what teams are being controlled, who's controlling them, etc. And finally, both on DW and on the console, the ability to sort and/or filter to only show members of the OD, similar to how you can filter by a specific conference. That way if you want to compare stats of only OD members, you can easily do so.

[psusnoop]

Probably my biggest request (and likely a relatively easy one) would be on DynastyWire, the ability to easily see who remains in the given week both in terms of games and also in recruiting time remaining. As well, on DW, a better way to browse ODs that you're not in to be able to see what teams are being controlled, who's controlling them, etc. And finally, both on DW and on the console, the ability to sort and/or filter to only show members of the OD, similar to how you can filter by a specific conference. That way if you want to compare stats of only OD members, you can easily do so.

Completely agree on this, I love seeing how I compare stat wise against other users in the league.

[JeffHCross]

Kwizzy, I don't think it's possible to condense multiple weeks of recruiting. I'd love to see it if it was ... but that's roughly akin to asking someone to have five actual phone calls in one ... difficult, at best.

Just going from existing code, and not thinking about features I'd like added to the game ...

• I want to see Conference Invites and Coaching Contracts brought over from Offline Dynasty.
• I want the Commisioner to have the option of using an offline dynasty file to start an Online Dynasty. For the sake of fairness, I don't necessarily want the return of the ability to save an offline copy, but I'd like to see the ability to start an OD from an offline file. This would allow interested commissioners to customize their dynasty before starting it, whether that's simulating into future seasons or just customizing the CPU teams' philosophies.
• As G just said, the ability to see who's in an OD on Dynasty Wire would be huge. The information is there for teams in the dynasty, but not for anybody browsing.
• And filtering stats and other items just for OD members. For some reason, a '11 OD looks like it's a single-player dynasty where the other OD players are just running CPU teams ... and I actually think that's how it's done, mechanically. This is a departure from '10.
• On the Dynasty Status tab on the console, I'd like to see information about how many hours are remaining in recruiting return. You get information about games being played, but nothing about whether or not recruiting has been started or completed.

[CLW]

My thoughts in order of my perceived importance:

#1 Coaching Contracts - The ability to turn this off/on would be a great addition IMHO and is something that is still missing that is a feature in offline dynasties. I'd love to have a 12 team dynasty where all of the users start out with the 12 worst teams in the game and then their Coaching determines what school they can go to next or the user could decide to try to turn Utah State into a powerhouse.

#2 Conference Invites/Changes - Again there should be the ability to turn off/on. Another great way for users to take bad teams and if they desire and their performance dictates the opportunity to join the BCS Conferences. Also, this would be "new" to the game but it would be nice for users to be able to change conferences AT ANY POINT IN A DYNASTY. Example, with NCAA 11 I'd like to keep the conferences as is and then for the 2012 season I'd like to have the ability to move Nebraska to the "Big 10" etc.... This would require EA to allow us to change the size of conferences as well as add divisions to conferences at any point in a dynasty. I can envision a ton of "stories" ODs could generate with reforming old conferences and/or creating new ones or seeing how "rumored" conference changes could play out.

#3 Coordinators/Carousel - We talked about this quite a bit in the Features Tourny. I believe it would be great to have a pool of either generic or real life coaches to be able to hire/fire as our staff from year-to-year. I cannot imagine how fun it would be to have a fellow member in an OD try to take away my QB coach and promote him to Offensive Coordinator. Or to lose my Defensive Coordinator who took on a Head Coaching job at a CPU school.

[JBHuskers]

There are a few things...but one that jumps off the top of my head is during recruiting (and this could work for offline too), I would like to be able to go to my depth chart without having to back all the way out of the recruiting hub.

[gschwendt]

Another feature I forgot to mention is the ability to customize conferences at the end of each season. That way, if I customized them to start the dynasty, but then one of the owners leaves, I can bring in a replacement owner and he can pick whatever team he would like instead of limiting his choices. Obviously I'm not the one looking at the code but I couldn't see that this would be anymore difficult than doing so at the beginning of the dynasty. The tricky part would be determining when through the offseason process to have this option.

[steelerfan]

There are a few things...but one that jumps off the top of my head is during recruiting (and this could work for offline too), I would like to be able to go to my depth chart without having to back all the way out of the recruiting hub.

That would be nice. Even if they just added OVRs to that breakdown screen that shows how many players and their class as well as how many targets you have, it would be an improvement.

Lots of good ideas here so far. I just hope the devs realize fully that Dynasties are the lifeblood of the series. In other franchises, similar modes are largely neglected year-to-year which I believe is a huge error. I don't need more quirky Ultimate Team back-of-the-box modes, refine your Dynasty/Franchise/Be a GM modes and more people will be happy than not.

[psuexv]

[*]On the Dynasty Status tab on the console, I'd like to see information about how many hours are remaining in recruiting return. You get information about games being played, but nothing about whether or not recruiting has been started or completed.

I think they should bring back the members "card" screen from '10

[Kwizzy]

I definitely see what you're saying Jeff & I see the difficulty there which is why I said "in some way". I just can't stand how many offseason steps there currently are & was using the recruiting as an example. All of those steps are an obstacle that increases in size significantly for each person you have in your OD. Not saying I have the solution or that there even is one in the current way the game is made, however I think those types of things are something that needs to be the focus going forward.

[JeffHCross]

I know what you mean, Kwizzy. I'm hoping they'll be able to find something (similar to how bowls were integrated into one week this year), but I think we're pretty much stuck in regards to the offseason. Everything in the offseason is sequential. You can't do Week 2 recruiting without Week 1 being fully simmed. You can't do Cut Players without Training Results or any of the previous stages. It'd be nice to see something done, but I'd be surprised.

Speaking of the offseason, I would like to see enhanced access to information in the offseason. Once you advance to the offseason, you've lost access to Awards, Bowl Game Results, and even your team's roster (on the console, though Dynasty Wire does have it). At the very least, I'd like to see a CPU-generated story listing bowl results and awards. Similarly, at the end of recruiting, I'd like to see a story for the Top Classes (which is also lost once you advance past signing day, except it scrolls at the bottom of the screen).

While in offline dynasty you can fly through a post season, Online Dynasties can sometimes take substantial time to get through an offseason (as Kwizzy was saying). If we can't find a way to shorten the time spent, at least give us some information to look at and go through while we're waiting.

[lilheavy]

I would like to see practice mood opened up.

Scrimmage
7 on 7
2 min drill
Setup situational plays like 3rd and longs

Also with the current setup your formation subs don't carry over into practice mode and injured players are allowed to practice so that needs to be fixed.

I think added to practice mode will keep players interested because it allows them to play game like situations while waiting for the week to advance.

[JeffHCross]

When a dynasty is full at 12 members, having a mechanism that prevents people from joining and corrupting the dynasty would be appreciated.

[gschwendt]

When a dynasty is full at 12 members, having a mechanism that prevents people from joining and corrupting the dynasty would be appreciated.

I think it probably would do that in most cases (ie not allow someone to even join), however since our dynasty actually thinks there are only 6 (or however many members), I think that is what caused the issue.

[JeffHCross]

You're probably right. There's still a lot of stability problems with this year's version.

[Traylor]

Probably my biggest request (and likely a relatively easy one) would be on DynastyWire, the ability to easily see who remains in the given week both in terms of games and also in recruiting time remaining. As well, on DW, a better way to browse ODs that you're not in to be able to see what teams are being controlled, who's controlling them, etc. And finally, <a href="http://www.bcduplication.com" style="color: rgb(50, 50, 50) ! important; text-decoration: none ! important; cursor: default ! important;">cheap cd replication</a> and on the console, the ability to sort and/or filter to only show members of the OD, similar to how you can filter by a specific conference. That way if you want to compare stats of only OD members, you can easily do so.

I would like to see this as well

[cdj]

A big missing item from Dynasty (& Online Dynasty) is the lack of connection to the season at hand (and entire Dynasty career) once you get into games. There's no mention of conference standings, game importance, info around the conference/nation, etc. We get rankings on the score banner overlay and team records during the postgame, but that's it. Nothing separates game one from game ten and nothing differentiates season one from season five from season thirteen, etc.

In terms of new features, I'd go with Coaches & a Coaching Carousel as the 'next big thing' for Dynasty and Online Dynasty. As many mentioned in the Wish List Tournament, there's just so much potential within such features plaus it is a big part of CFB that is currently missing in the franchise.

A secondary item that may be of some benefit is something that would give players their own personality. We get that established in recruiting with the different values for team recruiting pitches, but after that there's nothing. Maybe there is an extra player page that remembers the important team recruiting pitches for each player, maybe certain players have special (randomized, doesn't have to be assigned) celebrations and/or running/throwing styles, etc.

Anything to help differentiate games & seasons and players/recruits as you progress through Dynasty/OD would be huge, IMHO.

[kdog36]

I only have two ideas at this time. I believe they have been touched on but...

Please make the internet part of the ONLINE DYNASTY MORE USER FRIENDLY. Many times I cant get home in time to play the game before a deadline but want to at least recruit. I have logged on before and get really frustrated when I have to search and search. Too much clicking if you will.

As I am sure this has been touched on also... Make the recruits more realistic? Also like CDJ mentioned above. Make me feel like the game I am playing in mean something depending on what part of the season I am in.

I am sure it will be improved.